"People are going to think I'm lying... It's all true" - When Juan Soto opened up about his 'genius' hitting mindset with Nationals

Juan Soto quickly became one of the most-feared hitters in the game after debuting during the 2018 season with the Washington Nationals. The game at the big-league level did not intimidate him, and he was ready to make a name for himself.

He did just that after hitting home run after home run and getting on base at an impressive clip via walks. He has a great eye and a great understanding of how opposing pitchers' minds work.

Soto always seems to be one step ahead of the guy across from him throwing the ball. The slugger knows his reasoning is hard to explain, via a 2022 interview with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci.

"I mean, people are going to think I'm lying through all this! They're going to think it's all lies. I hope they don't. I don't lie at all. It's all true," said Soto.

Soto then went on to explain that he does not keep a physical notebook of the pitchers he is facing as a cheat sheet. Instead of a notebook, he uses his mind to keep notes on the pitchers he is facing.

"I don't keep notes. It's mostly in my head. It can be a move, sometimes the way they throw a pitch, or the way they might miss with a pitch and go, 'Oh, that's my fault.' It can be any move they make that makes me go, 'That's something,'" said Soto.

Juan Soto reveals how his shuffle came to be a part of his game

Former Washington Nationals Slugger - Juan Soto (Photo via IMAGN)

Juan Soto does not hide who he is on the field. He plays the game to the best of his abilities and does what he can to continue to make the game fun for himself and in return for the fans.

The slugger has developed his own unique shuffle over the years. He takes a pitch for a ball and clears the dirt underneath him while staring down the opposing pitcher.

This all stemmed from one rainy game in Low-A. Soto revealed that he was trying to clean his cleats off when the opposing pitcher got tilted, and it has stuck since then.

"All the mud was getting in the way. I just tried to clean it up and put my feet in the dirt and that's when I started shuffling. Every pitch I took I just tried to clean it off and pitchers started taking it personally" said Soto.

Juan Soto uses this as a way to get inside the pitcher's head after they have missed their mark. It has worked over the years, and fans will see plenty of it in 2025 with the New York Mets.